God will hear and listen to prayer, and wants a personal relationship with each of us. So if we pray and study the Bible, an organization is superfluous. The idea of god only allowing salvation through one specific group of people and rejecting everyone else on what amounts to a technicality is dumb.
TonusOH
JoinedPosts by TonusOH
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15
Are Jw's God's Organization?
by wantingtruth inhere i will quote a post written by "littleone" on another forum:.
when that original congregation apostasized, it formed the roman catholic church.
was it that the roman catholic church was jehovah's organization?
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3144
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.
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TonusOH
And also: please please PLEASE take on Scientology next. Those assholes love to dig into people's past and stir up trouble whenever anyone criticizes them. Gee, I wonder what they could use again Evans...
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Manners and Respectfulness
by IWant2Know ini would like to know if there are any ex's or formers who still appreciate good manners and respectfulness?
but i hope this question isn't offensive to this forum.
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TonusOH
IWant2Know: Well, from what I recall, a lot of them are not.
That's true, but it reinforces the point- no JW is going to see that handful as representative of the whole. But they will do the opposite if they happen to read this site or any other exJW forum.
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Just had a thought…
by Vidiot ini been reading quite a few experiences on reddit lately, and their seems to be a common theme coming up….
…dialed-up-to-eleven shunning of xjws by their witness relatives.. it reminds me of back in the day, listening to some of the over-the-top vitriol displayed by hard-core loyalists when the topic of evolution or apostates came up….
…i was gobsmacked when i finally realized these guys weren’t offended and indignant because they thought it was lies….
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TonusOH
Phizzy: That is so sad Ron.W, minds not just closed, but welded shut. That is a condition that is unlikely to change as long as they live.
It sounds that way, but I have to wonder. I think they say that to get people to stop talking about it. If they can convince you that they cannot be reasoned with, then perhaps you will stop and they will not have to deal with questions or arguments that they fear might 'stumble' them.
For as long as I was PIMI, I was convinced that I had the truth. Anything that might seem like a reasonable counter-argument had to be some form of deception, a bad argument intentionally dressed up to fool me. Once I was outside of that bubble, I realized that I simply hadn't wanted to hear anything that could chip away at my beliefs. The human desire for certainty makes it easy for us to fool ourselves.
But we can still have that epiphany --that moment of clarity-- that shakes our worldview and forces us to reevaluate what we believe in. It won't happen for everyone, but I think that even the most stubborn person can go through an experience that frees them from their self-imposed mental prison.
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Did Geoffrey Jackson lie under oath at the ARC?
by Vanderhoven7 ini understand he intimated that the faithful slave was not the only spokesman for jehovah god.
he also intimated that corporal punishment was not advocated by the wts.
we're these lies or deception or did they represent the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?.
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TonusOH
Indeed, it looks like their guidance changed as societal attitudes towards spanking changed. Good for them! But it would have been nice for Jehovah to give them the info a bit earlier. Would have saved me from a few whippings.
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JW Restrictions on Children
by NotFormer inissues raised in this thread:.
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6496820625145856/non-jw-parent-dating-jw-who-wants-children.
i'm trying to list all the things jw children are not allowed to do, or are discouraged from doing.
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TonusOH
Ron. W: Dating non witness schoolmates.
I would even say "dating witness schoolmates." Though that wasn't quite set in stone. My recollection is that JWs see dating as the first step towards marriage and not as some fun fling that kids do as they enter adolescence. Dating was frowned upon for anyone not in their late teens (and for some parents, dating was not for anyone in their teens at all).
Many JW parents were also fanatical about music or other media. I remember being teased at school because I wasn't allowed to watch a Bond film on TV (The Spy Who Loved Me, if I recall correctly) because it had the "Parental Discretion Advised" warning. And this was network TV, where movies were heavily censored to appeal to exactly that sort of parent.
And of course, not being allowed to salute the flag or recite the national anthem. While I do not care for these activities being forced on children in school, it was yet another way to differentiate ourselves in an environment where it was already difficult to fit in. I was fortunate that I usually had one or two other JW classmates to share the misery with. But we had to either sit at our desk while everyone else stood, or leave the room and wait in the hallway. Not very fun.
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52
Manners and Respectfulness
by IWant2Know ini would like to know if there are any ex's or formers who still appreciate good manners and respectfulness?
but i hope this question isn't offensive to this forum.
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TonusOH
The Watchtower organization will find any number of ways to justify their attitude towards those who leave. One way is to focus on those whose behavior they think is easy to condemn, even though there are certainly plenty of such examples within the organization itself. Or are people not rude or aggressive or foul-mouthed when they are JWs?
I am 100% certain that if I had browsed this forum when I was PIMI, I would have an endless list of things to object to, which would have fed my view of exJWs and apostates. I would also have found no end of excuses for similar behavior among JWs. Confirmation bias is a very real thing, and it paints our view of the world. Knowing this, I don't worry what the organization or PIMI JWs think about this site.
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3144
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.
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TonusOH
He isn't going anywhere for therapy. He doesn't have mental health issues. "I need to take care of my mental health" just sounds better than "I'm a lazy grifter."
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Lloyd Evans Patreoff Pool - December 2023
by DerekMoors input in your bets as to where you think lard i mean lloyd evans will land after december's drop in his patrons.
in september he started at 457 patrons, did his whiny begging fest and peaked at 478, but then dropped down to 439 at the beginning of october.
as of this moment (nov. 6), he's at 427 paid members.. so, where do you think he'll be on december 2nd?
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TonusOH
The account would be a new account, it should not have the block list that he created.
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26
Did Geoffrey Jackson lie under oath at the ARC?
by Vanderhoven7 ini understand he intimated that the faithful slave was not the only spokesman for jehovah god.
he also intimated that corporal punishment was not advocated by the wts.
we're these lies or deception or did they represent the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?.
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TonusOH
I remember watching some of the clips and being a bit surprised that he was being evasive and implying a different set of standards than the ones I remember receiving when I was active. These were the same men who encouraged the rank and file to stand fast in the face of even the most severe persecution, because Jehovah would balance the scales in due time. Wasn't Jehovah disappointed in brother Jackson for not giving an unambiguous witness to these men? Where was the spirit of Stephen?